“We had a very difficult time choosing which teens would win the top prizes because there were so many great videos,” said Kari Wardle, Idaho Public Television education manager and a KNOW VAPE contest judge. “The videos were moving, sometimes funny and very creative. Idaho teens really rose to the challenge.”
Teens were asked to produce a 90-second video that speaks to the dangers of vaping, prevention or how to quit vaping. Seven first place winners received $500; four second place winners received $250; and 10 third place winners will receive $150.
All winning videos can be viewed at IdahoPTV.org/KNOWVAPE.Idaho Public Television’s KNOW VAPE campaign announced the winners of the 2023 KNOW VAPE video contest for Idaho 13-to-18-year-olds.
Twenty-eight videos produced by teens from across Idaho were awarded a total of $10,000 in cash prizes. Two grand-prize winners from Boise — 16-year-old Halle Lowman and 14-year-old Eli Richey — received $2,000 each. Lowman’s video included an original musical composition paired with a portrayal of a teenage girl experiencing the negative spiraling effects of vaping. Richey’s video featured a rap, which Richey wrote and performed, to warn about the dangerous contents of vapes plus solutions for how to quit vaping.
| Eli Richey – Fairmont Junior High School, Boise | Grand Prize |
| Halle Lowman – Boise Senior High School, Boise | Grand Prize |
| Charlie Johnson – Boise Senior High School, Boise | First Place |
| Raymond Gauthier – Eagle High School, Eagle | First Place |
| Logan Furness – Hillcrest High School, Ammon | First Place |
| Addison Willis and Petra Christensen – Compass Academy, Idaho Falls | First Place |
| Eden Erickson and Brynn Harker – Thunder Ridge High School, Ammon | First Place |
| Hazel Ludwig and Georgia Geagan – Wood River High School, Hailey | First Place |
| Troy Edwards – Kuna Middle School, Kuna | First Place |
| Saryn Alred – Rocky Mountain Middle School, Idaho Falls | Second Place |
| Henry Watson, Gage Butcher, Dylan Hume – Eagle Middle School, Eagle | Second Place |
| John Lundblade, Sam Hendrick – Hillcrest High School, Ammon | Second Place |
| Chase Phillip – Bonneville High School, Idaho Falls | Second Place |
| Lauren Pollar – Boise Senior High, Boise | Third Place |
| Mia Fry – Vallivue High School, Caldwell | Third Place |
| Sophie Wcaser, Kelton Erickson, Timely Ricks – Community Youth in Action, Idaho Falls | Third Place |
| Dominique Aycock – Skyview High School, Nampa | Third Place |
| Joshua Gray, Maxwell Thrall, Anderson LaVoie – Eagle Middle School, Eagle | Third Place |
| Logan Furniss – Hillcrest High School, Ammon | Third Place |
| Tiernan Nuttbrock – Idaho Online, Tech Trep Academy, Salmon | Third Place |
| Kevin Carrillo Skyline High School, Idaho Falls | Third Place |
| Mae/aiia Hirschi, Arabelle Kelsch – Boise Online School | Third Place |
| Alessa O’Laughlin – Fernwaters Public Charter, Salmon | Third Place |
Winning videos will be broadcast on IdahoPTV and shared across social media channels.
The contest was part of KNOW VAPE, a statewide campaign designed to raise the alarm about the dangers of youth vaping in Idaho. The campaign includes a documentary called Nic Sick, featuring Idaho teens and their struggles with vape addiction; the teen video contest and social media campaign; free resources for parents; and a standards-based, multi-grade-level curriculum for educators.
Idaho Public Television partnered with Idaho’s seven public health districts on the project with funding from the Idaho Millennium Fund, an endowment created from the master settlement agreement reached with tobacco companies and states in 1998.